Thursday 13 December - NYC

Philip and Alison awoke this morning as the only people in the hotel room - having farewelled Jenny yesterday and Jessica not yet arrived. Philip had been tracking the flights for both the departing and arriving tour group member on Flight Tracker during the night.

Breakfasted and dressed P and A went down to wait for Jessica's arrival on the Super Shuttle. She arrived in good time from the airport and wanted to hit the shower straight away after the long journey. But true to her word as soon as that was done she was ready to hit the footpaths and subways, so off we all went. First stop to refill our met or cards which had expired at midnight on Wednesday and then downtown to the 9/11 Memorial and following that to Century 21 Department store! Jessica was in town and the shopping could begin. Great value buying perfumes for all three members of the family which then gave us store money to use on other purchases. Philip ended up with a new "bum" length grey wool coat and a pair of Crocs slippers. After this initial bit of retail therapy it was then off to Fifth Avenue via Columbus Circle where Philip was disappointed to be told that if he purchased a new Microsoft Surface Tablet from the Microsoft store it still would not have any warranty coverage in Australia. Visited the Plaza Hotel Food Court - to use the restrooms and then walked down Fifth Avenue marvelling at the Christmas decorations on the buildings and in the shop windows.

Jessica's main target in the area was Tiffany's and she managed to give her credit card a workout - some of the purchases for others back in Oz. Alison and Philip also managed to pick up a 30th birthday present for Jessica - she will have to wait until April for that one. Quick lunch of vendor hot dog each before we headed back to the Beacon to drop off the purchases.

Shopping loot from today

Jessica had pre-booked a tour through the Lower Eastside Tenement Museum for 6.30pm so we all headed down into Chinatown and Little Italy and when we arrived discovered a new tour being offered called the Store Tour so Alison and Philip bought tickets for that one and were the only members of the tour party with their own personal guide. All were happy with the 1 1/2 hours spent on hearing and seeing this fascinating history and then decided it was now too late to head to Fraunces Tavern for dinner.

We have returned to the Beacon and purchased pizza slices around the corner from the hotel and have dined on that with a bit of bourbon and  coke thrown in for good measure.

Alison and Philip have shown Jessica what true New York stamina is and she is ready for a good and long night's sleep.